Abysmal Spite – Triumph Over Mortality [EP]

Last year the American Black Metal duo of Abysmal Spite presented a short but fine demo tape under the name of ‘Demo MMXXII’, of which I concluded its review by saying that it provided enough confidence for future work. The moment of that “future work” has arrived with ‘Triumph Over Mortality’, a 3-track EP with yet another short playing time. Still, at 12 minutes, this EP is almost twice as long as ‘Demo MMXXII’, but it proves once again that it’s not about the playing time but about the musical content…

While the three tracks on this EP are largely a logical follow-up to the two songs on the debut demo, it is also clearly a big leap forward. The first thing that stands out is the somewhat crisper production that allows these songs to have an even more authentic second wave Black Metal feel. This gives the guitars more power and a lot sharper sound, allowing the melodies to shine through much better with, in the process, bringing out that beloved and wonderful late 90’s Black Metal character. Lolth’s vocals also sound quite a bit more vicious and add that extra bit of venom to the music that, with today’s knowledge, ‘Demo MMXXII’ somewhat lacked. Whether intentional or not, but on ‘Triumph Over Mortality’ Abysmal Spite sounds more Norwegian than ever, yet, and here comes the magic, without sounding exactly like a copy of any particular band.

This time around, ‘Triumph Over Mortality’ has not been released via Lolth’s own Cult Of Obliveon Recordings, but was issued in 50 copies on cassette tape by German underground powerhouse Narbentage Produktionen.